Random Best Movies That Were Originally Panned by Critics (23 items)

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  (#4) Fight Club

  • Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Eion Bailey, Lauren Sánchez, David Lee Smith, Edward Kowalczyk, Holt McCallany, Zach Grenier, Bob Stephenson, Christina Cabot, David Andrews, Brian Tochi, Matt Winston, Ezra Buzzington, Carl Ciarfalio, Tim De Zarn, Jim Jenkins, Richmond Arquette, Philip Hawn, Leonard Termo, Thom Gossom Jr., Charlie Dell, David Jean Thomas, Paul Dillon, Michael Shamus Wiles, Stuart Blumberg, Marcio Rosario, Pat McNamara, Michael Arturo, Markus Redmond, Tommy Dallace, Rachel Singer, George Maguire, Robby Robinson, Paul Carafotes, Peter Iacangelo, Joel Bissonnette, Christopher John Fields, Scotch Ellis Loring, Eugenie Bondurant, Eddie Hargitay, Kevin Scott Mack, Mark Fite, Evan Mirand, Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston, Bennie Moore, Chad Randau, Lou Beatty Jr., Matt Cinquanta, Joon B. Kim, Michael Girardin, Christie Cronenweth, Baron Jay, Hugh Peddy, Tyrone R. Livingston, Andi Carnick, Owen Masterson, Rob Lanza, Van Quattro, Trey Ore, Jawara, Gregory Silva, Valerie Bickford, Alekxia Valdez, J.T. Pontino, Dierdre Downing-Jackson, Anderson Bourell, Todd Peirce, Louis Ortiz

  New York Daily News called Fight Club “hardly groundbreaking,” the Miami Herald referred to it as “a bit of a dud,” and the Boston Globe said that its “chic indictment of empty materialist values fizzles.”
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  (#22) The Night of the Hunter

  • Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Peter Graves, James Gleason, John Hamilton, Gloria Pall, James Griffith, Kathy Garver, George D. Wallace, Corey Allen, Don Beddoe, Emmett Lynn, Paul Bryar, Evelyn Varden, Billy Chapin, Gloria Castillo, Sally Jane Bruce, Cheryl Callaway, Mary Ellen Clemons, Michael Chapin, Kay Lavelle

  This classic film, now widely studied as a masterpiece of horror by film students everywhere, was not a success with either audiences or critics at its initial release, and Laughton never directed another film.
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  (#11) Apocalypse Now

  • Marlon Brando, Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Francis Ford Coppola, R. Lee Ermey, Scott Glenn, Colleen Camp, Cynthia Wood, Bill Graham, Frederic Forrest, G. D. Spradlin, Sam Bottoms, Roman Coppola, James Keane, Vittorio Storaro, Albert Hall, Christian Marquand, Tom Mason, Aurore Clément, Jim Gaines, Marc Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Evan A. Lottman, Jerry Ziesmer, Jack Thibeau, Damien Leake, Kerry Rossall, Jerry Ross, Franck Villard, Henry Strzalkowski, Nick Nicholson, Glenn Walken, Herb Rice, Linda Carpenter, Don Gordon Bell, George Cantero, Linn Phillips, Bo Byers, Ron McQueen, David Olivier, Pierre Segui, William Upton, Larry Carney, Dick White, Gilbert Renkens, Chrystel Le Pelletier, Robert Julian, Lonnie 'Lono' Woodley, Henri Sadardeil, Hattie James, Father Elias, Daniel Kiewit, Michel Pitton, Yvon LeSeaux

  This one got mixed reviews. While some praised it, Frank Rich in Time said, "While much of the footage is breathtaking, Apocalypse Now is emotionally obtuse and intellectually empty."
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  (#20) Selena

  • Jennifer Lopez, Constance Marie, Edward James Olmos, Alex Meneses, Jon Seda, Lupe Ontiveros, Jacob Vargas, Seidy López, Jackie Guerra, Gil Glasgow, Sal Lopez, Gail Cronauer, Joe Stevens, Jeff Dylan Graham, Barbara Petricini-Buxton, Richard Coca, Panchito Gomez, Larry Cashion, Rick Olmos, León Singer, Ricky Vela, Erick Carrillo, John Verea, Marta Flores, George Perez, Don Cass, Lori Berlanga, Frank Mendez, Raven Kaylor, Andie X, Everett Sifuentes, Cora Cardona, Rueben Gonzales, Xavier Ramirez, Tom Christopher, Bel Hernandez, Molly Moroney, Pete Astudillo, Ray Melendez, Victoria Elena Flores, Valerio Longoria, Sr., Donnie Neubauer, Marc Kenneth Robinson, Marcos Padilla, Terry Elena Ordaz, Desi McGill, Mark Carrillo, Darline Tigrett, Elisabeth Gonzalez, Michael Guerrero, Carmen Martínez, Carl William Holler, Richard Iglesias, Ronald Gonzales, Don Shelton, Elia Ortiz, Keith Kaslow, Michelle McManus, Richard Emanuelle, Marika Baca, Philip Raybourn, Peter P. Montejano, Leonardo Martinez, Jason Bradley Jacobs, Richard William Hughes, Nicole Young, Fernando Cubillas, Francisco J. De La Fuente, Amin Mery, Rafael Tamayo, Rebecca Lee Meza, Chris Doughton, Brian Fallteen

  The 1997 movie Selena, which told the life story of singer Selena Quintanilla, featured Jennifer Lopez’s breakout role and turned out to be a big box office success. But the biopic received mixed reviews. Many critics praised Lopez's performance and the musical numbers, while taking issue with the lack of character development and the thin plot.
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  (#10) Alien

  • Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Helen Horton, Eddie Powell, Bolaji Badejo

  It is difficult to imagine Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie Alien receiving mixed reviews, especially when you consider the hugely popular franchise it spawned. But critics were skeptical at first; as the New York Times put it, "Don't race to it expecting the wit of Star Wars or the metaphysical pretentions of 2001 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The Guardian was harsher: "You won't see anything very original anywhere in the film."

  But over time — and after the director's cut was released — reviewers and the public reassessed their initial opinion. Alien became widely regarded as both a horror and sci-fi classic.
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  (#8) The Exorcist

  • Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, William Peter Blatty, Jason Miller, Mercedes McCambridge, Jack MacGowran, Barton Heyman, Peter Masterson, Titos Vandis, Donna Mitchell, William O'Malley, Eileen Dietz, Kitty Winn, Robert Symonds, Robert Gerringer, Mason Curry, Arthur Storch, Rudolf Schündler, John Mahon, Roy Cooper, Mary Boylan, Dick Callinan, Toni Darnay, Ron Faber, Wallace Rooney, Vasiliki Maliaros, Bernard Eismann, Joanne Dusseau, Gina Petrushka, Vincent Russell, Thomas Bermingham, Paul Bateson, Elinore Blair, John Nicola, Yvonne Jones, Don LaBonte, Beatrice Hunter

  "A chunk of elegant occultist claptrap... A practically impossible film to sit through... It establishes a new low for grotesque special effects..." – Vincent Canby, the New York Times

  "Friedkin's biggest weakness is his inability to provide enough visual information about his characters... whole passages of the movie's exposition were one long buzz of small talk and name droppings... The Exorcist succeeds on one level as an effectively excruciating entertainment, but on another, deeper level it is a thoroughly evil film." – Andrew Sarris, The Village Voice

  "Nothing more than a religious [adult pleasure] film, the gaudiest piece of schlock this side of Cecil B. DeMille (minus that gentleman's wit and ability to tell a story)." – Jon Landau, Rolling Stone

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